Typically, poultry birds that are raised for protein, egg-laying or breeding purposes may be vaccinated post-hatch against a variety of diseases and parasites. Such vaccinations may prevent debilitation or mortality, while optimizing bird growth and productivity. In many instances, the vaccines or other medicines may be administered manually. This can be done by capturing individual birds and presenting the individual birds to a vaccination device, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,802,541 to Jones et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 8,211,058 to Jorna. The presenting of the bird to the vaccination device may be accomplished manually or with assistance from a restraining device in some form.
In other instances, vaccination may be accomplished by presenting the birds for manual inoculation by means of a rotatable drum, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,609,479 to Storer et al. In such a configuration, each bird is shackled to the drum and injected with different vaccines or medicines at separate workstations by individual operators. Other types of restraining devices have been used for holding avian birds, such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,107,484 to Lesher. However, the previously mentioned restraining devices and holders do not provide optimal, unassisted and full access to the various parts of an avian bird for evaluation, vaccination, or other processing needs.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a holder apparatus capable of presenting an avian bird such that a substantial portion of the avian bird may be easily accessed, while the avian bird remains stabilized under comfortable conditions. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide an associated method that would facilitate presentation of an avian bird within a holder apparatus in such a manner that the avian bird is stabilized and comfortable.